Method of finishing edges of leather and the like goods



March 27; 1945. c. A; OLSEN ETAL I 2,372,336

METHOD OF FINISHING EDGES OF LEATHER AND THE LIKE GOODS Filed Jan. 31, 1944 few/22721 (la/r5 flZW/a flizdmw krmm W W W Patented Mar. 27, 1945 METHOD OF FINISHING EDGES OF LEATHER AND THE LIKE GOODS Carl A. Olsen and Andrew J. Germain, Haverhill, Mass.

Application January 31, 1944, Serial No. 520.412

4 Claims.

It has heretofore been usual to finish the exposed edges of leather or similar goods, either by applying a finishing beading, commonly known as a French cord, or by folding over the skived margin of the goods so as to present a surface of the leather on the exposed edge.

When applying the French cord, the finishing strip or cord is first stitched to the goods along the margin of the goods, the strip being applied wrong side out to the front face of the goods, extending inwardly from the edge. The free edge of this strip is then brought over to enclose the edge of the goods and the adjacent edge of the strip and the back face portion of this free edge of the strip is cemented against the back face of the goods. Sometimes the cord strip is provided with a pressure sensitive adhesive on its back face to aid in performing the final cementing operation, but should this be exposed to the air for a few hours after the first securement has been effected before the completion of the finishing operation, the pressure sensitive adhesive may have lost much of its tackiness, or it may have taken up suflicient dust, trimmings, foreign material, or the like, so that it does not securely bond when the finishing operation is being completed. Moreover, this pro-coated cord strip is somewhat expensive, resulting in waste when it cannot be fully utilized. Wastage of cord material may be avoided by the use of a separate adhesively coated securing strip, this strip being coated on both sides, but if pressure adhesive cement is employed on both faces, the tackiness of the outer face of the adhesive strip, after the inner face has been secured in position on the goods, is likely to become deteriorated, either during the application of the adhesive strip to the goods, or thereafter, through contact with the air, or by contamination by dirt or other foreign matter, or both, Where the edge is finished by skiving and then folding the skived edge, difficulty is also often experienced in applying the adhesive to the skived edges without the adhesive coming into contact with other parts of the goods where it is objectionable.

In accordance with this invention the dimculties hereinbefore recited are entirely obviated by the use of an adhesive carrying tape, one face of which is coated with pressure sensitive adhesive, while the other face has applied thereto an adhesive which is normally non-tacky but which may be activated when it is desired to secure a portion of the goods thereto.

For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a roll of adhesive tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one face and a normally non-tacky but readily activated cement on its opposite face.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation to a larger scale than Figure l of the roll of tape showing a portion of the tape partly pulled away from the roll.

. Figure 3 is a detail section to a larger scale on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a fabric showing the manner in which it may be cutto form bias tape suitable for the purpose of this invention.

Figures 5 and 6 are detail sectional Views through the edge portions of leather or other suitable goods, showing different stages in application of a French cord thereto for imparting an edge finish.

Figures 7 and 8 are similar sectional views showing the finishing of the edge of the goods by skiving and folding.

Figure 9 is a cross sectional View of a shoe strap 01' similar article showing the method of edge finishing of Figure 8, but further showing the application of a back finishing strip so that both faces of the article present a finished surface of the material.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 4, a tape which may be of fabric, paper, or other suitable material, is supplied, this tape as shown in Figures 1 and 2 being packed in a roll from which it may be unwound as desired. One face of this tape, such as 2, is provided with an adhesive coating, preferably a pressure sensitive coating, such as is well known in the art. The opposite face is supplied with a coating 3 of a normally nontacky adhesive such, for example, as thermoplastic adhesive which may be rendered tacky by heating it to above normal room temperature, If the goods whose edges are to be finished have curved edges, it is preferable to employ a bias tape which may be made by cutting diagonally of the weave a fabric strip as shown in Figure 4 into tape sections, and the coatings may be applied before the tape is cut, if desired.

In Figures 5 and 6 the use of such a tape in connection with the finishing of leather goods by a French cord is illustrated. The goods to be finished is shown at H), the finishing cord being shown at H. To the flesh face of the goods is progressively secured an adhesive strip or tape [5 unrolled from the coil l, the pressure sensitive face of the goods as shown in Figure with its outer finished fac against the finished face of the goods l0, and is preferably'secured thereto and to the strip l5 as by a line of stitching I2. The free inner edge of the strip is then turned up and inwardly to enclose its opposite edge'and the exposed edge of the goods, and is brought A normally non-tacky cement activated by other than heat is, however, within the general scope of this invention. For example, an activating liquid may be used, if desired, such as moisture applied to a soluble gum or any solvent for an adhesive which may be rendered tacky by such solvent. In general, however, it is preferred to use a thermoplastic adhesive since this requires no liquid of any sort, which might damage other portions of the article if applied thereto, and it is easier and cleaner to handle.

down and applied in facial contact with the rear face of the strip l5 which may be activated by pressing the parts together with a heated iron.

' This secures the rear portion 16 of the cord strip in position and completes the finishing operation. Where it is desired to finish the edge of the goods by skiving and folding, the operation is performed as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. The

flesh face of the goods to be finished adjacent to the edge is skived off as at I! and to the scarf is applied the tacky face of the tape as shown in Figure 7. This edge portion of the goods is then folded back to bring the normally nontacky face of the tape ISagain'st the flesh face of the goods inwardly of the scarf, as shown in Figure 8, where the folded portion is secured by heat and pressure to form the finished edge presenting the. grain or finished face ofthe leather as at 18 over the exposed edge of the goods.

In Figure 9 there is illustrated in cross section a shoe strap in which both edges of the leather are finished by skiving and folding as illustrated in Figures '7 and 8, after which a finishing strip, preferably with skived margins, is applied to the back of the strap with its grain face outwardly exposed, the parts being then stitched together by the lines of stitching 22. With this arrangement substantially all of the exposed surfaces of the strap present the grain surface of the leather.

One of the advantages of employing a thermoplastic cement for the normally non-tacky surface is that it is easy to activate it at the same time that the parts are being pressed together for adhesion, it being only necessary to apply moderate heat when the parts are so pressed, a heated pressing iron being used to apply both heat and pressure.

Another advantageis illustrated in Figure 2, the pressure sensitive cement adhering sufficiently to the thermoplastic cement in the roll so that when the tape is peeled off from the roll, the surface of the pressure sensitive cement is somewhat disturbed as at 4 (see Figure 2), increasing its tackiness, so that it is conditioned for application to the goods immediately and its surface not glazed or dried out by exposure to the atmosphere.

From the foregoing description of certain embodiments of this invention, it should be evident to those skilled in theart that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. The method of finishing the edge of goods, which comprises applying to one face of such goods adjacent to such edge the tacky face of a tape provided with a normally tacky face and a normally non-tacky coating on its opposite face, and thereafter turning over a finishing portion of the goods into facial contact with said normally non-tacky tape face and applying pressure thereto while said normally non-tacky face is activated to render it tacky.

2. The method of finishing the edge of goods, which comprises applying to one face of such goods adjacent to such edge the pressure sensitive adhesive face of a pressure sensitive adhee sive coated tape coated on the opposite face with a normally non-tacky thermoplastic adhesive, and then folding oversuch edge and pressing it against said thermoplastic coating while said coating is activated by heat.

3. The method of finishing the edge of leather goods with French cord, which'comprises sticking to the back face of the goods along said edge a tape having a normallynon-tacky exposed rear face, securing the outer edge of a French cord tape along the outer face of the goods adjacent -to said edge, and then turning the free edge of having its opposite face coated with a normally non-tacky adhesive, and then folding back said skived portion and bringing the normally nontacky face of said tape against the flesh side of the goods inwardly of the scarf and pressing the goods and tape together while said normally nontacky face is activated to render it tacky.

CARL A. OLSEN. ANDREW J. GERMAIN. 

